by Howard M. Romaine
A short introduction of swirling colors emitted from a Martin King speech was the first graphic I recall Hank Willis Thomas placing on the large screen in the Frist Art Museum screening room, with bursts of color propelled by certain phrases, pauses, and magic words, which bounced the magic colors of a new art concept relating sound to emissions of color : OK, there’s a technical name for it, but I didn’t retain it.
What sticks in my mind was various takes on the ABSOLUT Vodka campaign, using different fillers to transform an advertisement for a commodity of our new ‘world civilization’ into a marker of the darker aspects of its creation – an ABSOLUT Vodka shape molded into a slave ship. for the transformation of the most ubiquitous and familiar ad into the most provocative art seemed to me to be one essential aspect of this young artists incredible early achievement.
On the other hand, there was mixed lighter pieces causing laughter, as well as provocative pieces causing a pause to think throughout this enchanting lecture of one of the 30 American Artists now thru the Holiday Season at the Frist. If you haven’t had a chance to see it, go immediately, as it will take longer than the two hours I had, especially given the unique, (at least to my viewing of American Art exhibits – not since I walked thru an Egyptian Exhibit in Paris a decade or more ago) video interviews with artists shown by the collectors, a Miami couple who sit with the artists, ask questions and chat. So each of the 30 artists shown, also has a brief video window into his or her artistic history, hopes and meaning, which greatly enhances one’s appreciation of the show, perhaps the most impressive at the FRIST, since the Aaron Douglas exhibit, of 2008.
